Socialists From The United States

"Blasphemy has always seemed to require taking things very seriously."

"When the idle poor Become the idle rich You'll never know just who is who or who is which."

"When I'm not near the girl I love, I love the girl I'm near."

"The Lord made Adam, the Lord made Eve, he made ‘em both a little bit naive."

"So I ask each weepin' willow And each brook along the way, And each lad that comes a-whistlin' Tooralay How are things in Glocca Morra This fine day?"

"How are things in Glocca Morra? Is that little brook still leaping there? Does it still run down to Donny cove? Through Killybegs, Kilkerry and Kildare?"

"On the day I was born, Said my father, said he I've an elegant legacy waiting for ye. Tis a rhyme for your lips And a song for your heart To sing it whenever the world falls apart. Look, look, look to the rainbow Follow it over the hill and stream Look, look, look to the rainbow Follow the fellow who follows a dream."

"To let a fool kiss you is stupid, To let a kiss fool you is worse."

"Life is short, short, brother! Ain't it the truth? And there is no other Ain't it the truth? You gotta rock that rainbow while you still got your youth! Oh! Ain't it the solid truth?"

"The first thing we’re looking at here is an expression really of Yip’s philosophy and background, which he brings to writing lyrics for the songs. And what it says here is that songs have always been man’s anodyne against tyranny and terror. The artist is on the side of Humanity."

"My heart is like the willow That bends, but never breaks. It sighs when summer jilts her, It sings when April wakes. So you, who come a-smiling With summer in your eyes, Think not that your beguiling Will take me by surprise. My heart's prepared for aching The moment you take wing. But not, my friend, for breaking While there's another spring."

"And only God who makes the tree Also makes the fools like me. But only fools like me, you see, Can make a God, who makes a tree."

"You’re out of the woods You’re out of the dark You’re out of the night Step into the sun, step into the light, Keep straight ahead For the most glorious place On the Face of the Earth Or the sky. Hold onto your breath Hold onto your heart Hold onto your hope, March up to the gate And bid it open."

"No matter how much I probe and prod, I cannot quite believe in God; But oh, I hope to God that He Unswervingly believes in me."

"I am one of the last of a small tribe of troubadours, who still believe that life is a beautiful and exciting journey with a purpose and grace which are well worth singing about."

"I am a rebel by birth. … I contest anything that is unjust, that causes suffering in humanity. My feelings about that are so strong, I don't think I could live with myself if I weren't honest."

"Lives of great men all remind us greatness takes no easy way. All the heroes of tomorrow are the heretics of today. Socrates and Galileo, John Brown, Thoreau, Christ, and Debs Heard the night cry down with traitors, and the dawn shout "Up the reds!""

"WHERE and WHEN Are lost in space. THERE and THEN Do not embrace. So before we disappear Come sweet NOW and kiss the HERE."

"No matter how high or great the throne, What sits on it is the same as your own."

"As the writer of the lyric of the song ‘God’s Country’, I am outraged by the suggestion that somehow I am connected with, believe in, or am sympathetic with Communist or totalitarian philosophy."

"Without your love It's a honky-tonk parade Without your love It's a melody played in a penny arcade. It's a Barnum and Bailey world Just as phony as it can be But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me."

"We're off to see the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. You'll find he is a whiz of a Wiz! If ever a Wiz! there was."

"Follow the yellow brick road."

"Some day I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far behind me Where troubles melt like lemondrops Away above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me. Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow, Why then, oh why can't I?"

"Somewhere over the rainbow, Way up high There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow Skies are blue And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true."

"Say, its only a paper moon Sailing over a cardboard sea But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believed in me."

"I never knew the charm of spring Never met it face to face I never knew my heart could sing Never missed a warm embrace 'Til April in Paris. Whom can I run to? What have you done to My heart?"

"Once I built a tower up to the sun Brick and rivet and lime Once I built a tower, now it's done Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

"Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"

"We still have wars and we still have poverty — as long as these things exist, there's always going to be something to do. But that cannot distract from the fact that we're on the way."

"I don’t think that we are a species or a people that can exist without making mistakes somewhere along the line. Some make mistakes that are greater than others. But I do believe that we should have the courage and the ability to look at something that we did, even if in the first instance we believed it, when in the wake of the aftermath and the truth, you find out that that was not the case, to then say, 'Let me go back and examine what led me to this conclusion. What gods was I serving? What masters was I serving? What was it all about?' and then try to be more instructive to people who will listen to you."

"I think most important is that we have words that attempt to give us moral cleansing, so that somehow we hold those responsible for crashing into the Twin Towers and killing over 2,000 Americans citizens in cold blood, which is an act of terrorism — people who have done that should be sought out and brought to justice; there’s no question of that — but when we do what we have done, illegal war, going into the Middle East, bombing at will, and then hundreds of thousands of people get caught, who are either maimed or over 100,000 have already been killed, who are innocent men, women and children, and we chalk that off to a thing called "collateral damage," as if somehow that murderous thing that we’re doing so cruelly and so inhumanely has no judgment before world opinion, that we are somehow righteous and above criticism and above the law. That is unacceptable. And that’s what I speak out against."

"My social and political interests are part of my career. I cannot separate them. My songs reflect the human condition. The role of art isn't just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be."

"Each and every one of you has the power, the will and the capacity to make a difference in the world in which you live in. ... You should go through life knowing, "I am somebody.""

"In the face of all the inhumanity, their humanity feeds the capacity to endure and continue to pursue honorable solutions to our pain."

"Even with all the difficulties and the frustrations that we feel—those of us who have been consistent in this journey—what makes it so remarkably attractive and encouraging are the men and women you meet on the way. I have met some glorious human beings: Eleanor Roosevelt, Fanny Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, and Dr. King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Che Guevara, and Cesar Chavez and others not quite so famous—they are the ones who really make the journey rewarding. The work I do with UNICEF. The men and women I’ve met in Rwanda, South Africa, working against HIV/AIDS, and the courageous things that simple, wonderful human beings do for each other."

"I work for the United Nations. I go to places where enormous upheaval and pain and anguish exist. And a lot of it exists based upon American policy. Whom we support, whom we support as heads of state, what countries we've helped to overthrow, what leaders we've helped to diminish because they did not fit the mold we think they should fit, no matter how ill advised that thought may be."

"When I was 40 and looking at 60, it seemed like a thousand miles away. But 62 feels like a week and a half away from 80. I must now get on with those things I always talked about doing but put off."

"On all levels of life and as each day unfolds, respect for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. grows impressively, and the essence of this respect is the fact that he had deeper insights than most of us have appreciated. It is not mere poetry to call him prophetic. The accuracy of his prophecies is almost uncanny. By the early 1950's history had endowed him with a sense of the precise moment that Black people were ready for mass action, ready for its risks, and ready for its responsibilities."

"The sham engineers of the music industry, who steer the wheels of public opinion, are driving the good features of calypso into the ground. I shudder to think what these greedy men will eventually do to this true art form."

"Some argue that Belafonte, because he is black, also cannot be a racist. But that is, of course, a racist argument. Again, it reduces someone's moral responsibility and intellectual autonomy to a racial stereotype — that all blacks are innocent victims who cannot be held responsible for their beliefs or arguments; or that all blacks are so oppressed that any bigotry they utter is permissible. Again, this simply robs blacks of their individuality. In Belafonte's case, it's simply bizarre. He is an extremely empowered man. He is also a bigot. The question to be asked of the left is therefore a simple one: Are you in favor of bigotry or against it? If you're against it, how can you not criticize and, indeed, ostracize a bigot like Belafonte?"

"More than once my mother would point out: "Harry Belafonte is the best-looking man on the planet.""

"I just want to say how much we are indebted to my dear and abiding friend, Harry Belafonte, and to all the distinguished and famous artists and entertainers who have taken the time out from their prestigious schedules to be with us here in Montgomery, Alabama, as we march on the state capital tomorrow morning. I know that our thanks will go out to them and will abide them for years to come."

"Since the 50s, Belafonte has used his celebrity status to aid the civil rights movement, influence the Kennedys, raise millions for Africa and support the anti-apartheid movement. The turning point was a meeting with Martin Luther King in 1953. Belafonte was already politically aware, his anger stirred by the way blacks were treated after they had fought for democracy in the war against Hitler. Then King, a relatively unknown preacher at the time, sought his aid. "We talked for four hours — it was a life-changing moment. From then on, I was in his service and in his world of planning, strategy and thinking. We became very close immediately." Belafonte gave generously to the civil rights movement and enlisted the support of Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Garner and other Hollywood stars. But, despite turning up at rallies with a legendary bag full of cash, he was far more than a political sugar daddy. The authoritative history of the movement by Taylor Branch has more than 100 references to Belafonte's role as a key adviser to King and a bridge to prominent white politicians, especially the Kennedys."

"Throughout his life, he fought for justice, using his celebrity to support causes from civil rights to anti-colonialist and anti-war movements and Black Lives Matter...He challenged those in power regardless of political party, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, from Donald Trump to Joe Biden."

"the real point is that people like me and Harry Belafonte and even Martin Luther King are not Negro leaders. We're doing our best to find out where the people are and to follow them."

"There's a place for him, but he's the final determinant as to whether he achieves that or not. He needs to capture the imagination of a universe hungry for decent thought and passion. All he has to do is be truthful and have a vision for what to do and stop playing a goddamn game of politics. If he does that, he'll get everything he needs."

"To reach someone's soul, you have to have a social relationship. ... You can't just sit down in the cold world of legal jargon and settle the nuances of racism and what it does to the social and cultural fabric. ... The rich in America are so isolated that for Bobby to come into this intimate experience with its victims was a revelation. You could see in his face the anguish and consternation. It played away at his conscience and soul."

"I could have made $2bn or $3bn — and ended up with some very cruel addiction — but I chose to be a civil rights warrior instead."

"I have very little regard for consensus if it blinds you to the truth."